About the Talk: Ever wanted to know more about the veterans in your family, your possible family or unusual surnames you're researching, or even your favorite actors or writers or baseball players' US military service? Ever heard "sorry, those military records were lost in a big fire in 1973", or that the remaining records were scant, or that they were generally unavailable to non-relatives? Well, we have some very good news for you. There's a *different* set of military-related historical records out there that were basically unknown to most researchers, but which you can now order right from your home, using just your web browser, for any deceased US veteran, related or not -- and for free!

In our talk, we'll explain how and why we sued the VA to get access to this data, and how to use the BIRLS database and new website. And we'll show off the kinds of unique genealogical and historical data that has been just sitting in these files for years, with examples of files we've received from the VA for our own relatives, from research we've done for clients, from other genealogists who have been using the BIRLS website to make FOIA requests for the past few months, and more. And, of course, we'll show never-before-known records from quite a few famous Americans who served in various conflicts and eras in American history, from the baseball Hall of Famer writing angry letters to the VA about his life insurance policy's beneficiary rules, to the comic book artist and creator who suffered with PTSD after surviving hand-to-hand fights in foxholes during the Battle of the Bulge, and more.